• 70% of mental health disorders begin in adolescence, and 28% of students report not knowing where to turn when they wanted to talk to someone about mental health.

• Only 30% of people ever seek help—often waiting until their condition is severe.. This means, of the estimated 250,000 children and youth in Toronto experiencing mental health problems, only about 75,000 of them will ever seek help.

• Over the past 10 years in Toronto, hospital discharges for mental health and addictions as a percentage of all discharges for youth aged 15-24 have doubled, from 13% to 26%.

• Wait times are as long as 18 months for the two most in-demand services: long-term counselling and intensive therapy.

• “The average college student now reports as much anxiety as did the average psychiatric patient 50 years ago.”

• Our grassroots model puts us in and among hundreds of young people every day, allowing us to provide support and help to those who wouldn’t otherwise seek it.

• As trusted adults in the lives of youth, we are privileged to be able to have those first conversations about mental health, and walk alongside troubled young people in the midst of their mental health challenges.

• We are deepening our expertise by providing training for all of our staff, and developing two specialized roles (counselor and referral consultant) in the area of mental health.